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Monday, 5 December 2011

Red, red wine, stay close to meeee...

[With all due deference to Bob Marley and UB40]

No actually this is not wine, though you could be forgiven for thinking it was...

This is my Sloe Gin. It's the Cabernet Sauvignon version, you know! :-) The sloes I picked this year were probably the best I have ever had. I'll be going back to the same spot next year, and I'm not letting on where it is! I also think that freezing them before use has helped. It seems to break down the flesh so that the juice comes out better.

It looks pretty good to me. It's probably mature enough to drink now. I think I will filter and re-bottle it next weekend. I noticed recently that good Sloe Gin is selling at nearly £30 a bottle in the supermarkets, which is more than a decent Single Malt whisky. Crazy!

Here's another red thing I wanted to show you. (Yes, I know it has absolutely nothing to do with Sloe Gin except that it is a similar colour). It's one of my red chicories. This type - whose name I do not know - has not hearted-up as tightly as the "Firestorm" variety did, but it's looking nice nonetheless, covered in raindrops and lit by the weak December sunshine.

Since I'm obviously on a red theme today, maybe I should show you my latest batch of chillis, which I harvested yesterday...they're mostly red.

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I'm particularly pleased with the two "Cherry Bomb" ones at bottom right of this photo. The biggest one is about the size of a golf ball.

We have had a couple of frosty mornings now, and despite the protection of the little plastic greenhouses, the chillis plants are looking a bit sorry for themselves, so I picked these fruits to finish ripening indoors, before I lose them to the weather. The completely green "Serrano" ones will probably go in the freezer just as they are.

Just to complete my set of "red things", I feel I must include a picture of the soup I made for lunch today - Chickpea and Chorizo (with tomatoes and chillis, you'll note...)

I'm not including a recipe for this one, which was done using store-cupboard ingredients and made in true bung-it style: a few slices of Chorizo from the freezer, an onion and a leek, a tin each of chickpeas and chopped tomatoes; half a teaspoon of dried oregano, half a teaspoon of chilli flakes, a small fresh chilli for garnish, a spoonful of stock powder and some water.

22 comments:

Sloe Gin...yum! Freezing some fruit really does bring out their flavour - elderberries are another example. And by happy accident I found that the best banana bread on earth is made from pre-frozen bananas.

Haha :) I once had a bunch of bananas that we weren't able to use up before a trip. I hate throwing good food away so I popped them in the freezer. They'd probably gross most people out when they've been defrosted but they're brilliant for baking with.

Mark, tis a shame you're so far away or else I'd be knocking on your door for a neighborly visit (i.e. yes please, I'd love to try a sip of your Sloe gin). BTW..I've got bananas frozen in the freezer too, ready for the next batch of banana bread.

I have to confess I've never tried Sloe Gin I normally just have Gordon's with tonic and a slice of lemon.It looks interesting and I never like to think I'm missing out on something so I'll have to find some to try.December sunshine ~ what's that about?

Yay Mark - sloe gin AND chillis all in the same post!!! Does life get better? Oh and btw, I also have bananas in my freezer.....maybe I should change the name of my blog to Bananas In My Freezer!!! It has a certain ring...lol x

We decanted our sloe gin last weekend, it is beautifully clear - pity I don't drink. We did the same for the cherry vodka - it doesn't taste nearly as nice as the sloes though, so the beloved says. The sloes were brilliant this year and quite a lot bigger than normal.

That soup looks quite tasty, you do produce some fine meals from your garden. I think perhaps of all the leaf veggies various chicory are perhaps the most colorful of the bunch...beautiful. That sloe gin sounds and looks pretty darn good too.:)